As soon as Shelgon appeared, it saw Salamence Leader.
Without any fear, it stared directly at Salamence Leader, its eyes filled with admiration.
"Woo—" Shelgon let out a soft cry and rubbed against Aoki's body.
Aoki patted Shelgon's back, signaling it not to worry, as it would soon be able to evolve as well.
Salamence Leader understood Drake's intention upon seeing Shelgon's appearance and nodded lightly.
It glanced at Shelgon once more and walked towards the interior of the valley.
Drake, Aoki, and Shelgon followed suit.
"The origin of this space and this Dragon Valley can no longer be traced, but what is certain is that the Dragon-type Pokémon here should have been passed down from ancient times in the Pokémon world. Because they have had very little contact with the outside world, the Pokémon here have retained their most primitive bloodline inheritance.
The special development method for Shelgon, described in the booklet I gave you that day, was learned from here."
Drake explained to Aoki as they walked.
"In fact, it's not just Shelgon; other Dragon-type Pokémon can also enhance their potential and develop their Dragon-type bloodline through this method. However, the Salamence family benefits the most from this method in terms of improvement.
However, other species also have different inheritances.
This space is mainly managed by five major families: the Dragonite family, the Salamence family, the Garchomp family, the Hydreigon family, and the Goodra family.
They are all pseudo-legendary Pokémon species, and these families are very powerful. Their leaders are at least Champion-level or even stronger.
They rotate every hundred years, and this century, it's the turn of the Salamence family.
And we are now walking towards what appears to be the only man-made structure in this space, which I call the Dragon Temple!"
He told Aoki a lot of basic knowledge about this space.
Aoki became increasingly curious about this space.
Not long after, they reached the end of the valley and indeed saw two massive gates.
Many statues were carved on the gates, and among the most easily recognizable were the five pseudo-legendary Pokémon, with the Salamence family prominently featured.
"The Dragon Clan's Dragon's Den and the Dragon's Hometown in the Kalos region can actually be said to be branches that originated from here. The Dragon's Den is the Dragonite family, and the Dragon's Hometown is the Hydreigon family.
Although this place rarely interacts with the outside world, every now and then, each family sends one or two Pokémon to travel and learn.
That's when I met my old friend."
Drake, who usually didn't talk much, seemed to have opened up, introducing Aoki to everything about this place.
"Then, if you brought me here, wouldn't the Pokémon here blame you, Teacher?" Aoki asked.
Upon hearing Aoki's question, Drake burst out laughing, "Hahahahaha—your teacher, I, have a lot of influence."
Aoki understood what he meant. Drake's influence was secondary; it was more accurate to say that Salamence Leader's influence was significant.
But did this imply that, if truly necessary, Drake could summon a Dragon-type army?
And they would all be true Dragon-type Pokémon, not Flying-type Pokémon with "Dragon" in their names.
That would be very interesting.
Salamence Leader pushed open the large doors, revealing a hall. The hall also had many massive stone blocks towering on both sides, with a path appearing in the middle.
And on both sides of this path, there were many statues standing there.
Among them were Salamence, Dragonite, and various other Pokémon; any Pokémon with a connection to the Dragon type could be seen here.
Of course, Aoki did not see Kommo-o, the Dragon-type Pokémon from the Alola region, here.
At the end of the path was a massive rock wall.
When Aoki reached the end and saw the Pokémon carved on this rock wall, he was stunned.
"Rayquaza?" Aoki murmured.
"That's right, this is Rayquaza, the Sky High Pokémon! Rayquaza!
I once thought this space was created by Rayquaza, but later, based on Rayquaza's living habits, I abandoned that idea," Drake said.
Aoki nodded.
Indeed, this place would initially make one think it was Rayquaza's space, especially after seeing this stone wall.
However, upon closer thought, if it were Rayquaza's space, he would surely transform it into his preferred living environment.
Rayquaza likes to be active in the ozone layer. If it were his space, it would certainly be filled with ozone, making it difficult for other Pokémon to survive.
As a legendary Pokémon of the Hoenn region, Rayquaza is neither dormant nor vanished; it simply lives in the ozone layer. Humans below can occasionally glimpse Rayquaza, who comes out for a stroll, flashing through the clouds, especially in places with higher altitudes and cleaner air, such as the Sky Pillar.
Rayquaza's territorial instincts are very strong; the ozone layer is his territory, and Pokémon that enter without permission will be attacked by him.
This further confirms that this cannot be his space.
And beneath that stone wall, there was a pool, about half-filled with liquid.
This liquid was not water, but a strange, viscous fluid that emitted a reddish-purple glow.
"Roar—"
Salamence let out a soft roar at Shelgon.
Hearing Salamence's voice, Shelgon paused, then looked at Aomori for his opinion.
Drake explained, "This is the Dragon Pool. The liquid inside is pure 'Dragon Blood.' All Dragon-type Pokémon that die in this space will, before their death, go to the end of Dragon Mountain, which is the graveyard for all Dragon-type Pokémon in this entire space, also known as the Dragon Tomb. They will wait for death to come there.
Then, 'Dragon Blood' will seep out from this stone wall and fall into the Dragon Pool.
There is no place more suitable for Shelgon than this."
From Drake's words, one could hear his high regard for this Dragon Pool.
Aoki also had no doubts and nodded towards Shelgon.
Seeing that Aoki agreed, Shelgon slowly walked towards the Dragon Pool.
Although Drake called the liquid in the Dragon Pool "Dragon Blood," it wasn't actually real blood, but a special liquid that likely contained a large amount of Dragon-type energy, capable of helping Dragon-type Pokémon increase the concentration of Dragon-type bloodline within them, thereby enhancing their potential.
So, despite looking like there was a lot of "Dragon Blood," there was no bloody smell at all.
Watching Shelgon walk into the Dragon Pool step by step, its body slowly being submerged by the "Dragon Blood," it closed its eyes and was completely immersed.
It didn't look very big, but it was quite deep.
Aoki shifted his gaze. According to Drake, this process would take at least a day, and Aoki could either stay here with them or leave with them.
Salamence Leader had already left on its own, seemingly not attaching much importance to this place.
However, Aoki noticed some strange things on the rock wall.